IFPRI Report

Research Perspectives: IFPRI Symposia in Johannesburg Focus on Food Security and a 2020 Vision for Southern Africa

"Forty million people--the population of South Africa--in the Southern African region go hungry," said Thoko Didiza, South Africa's deputy minister of agriculture and land affairs. "It is not always easy to think regionally," she added, "but the times require that we find a balance between nationalism and regionalism if we are to solve our problems." Didiza opened one of two IFPRI symposia attended by some 40 policymakers and researchers from 10 Southern African countries, June 22-24, in Johannesburg.

At the symposium on overcoming food insecurity in Southern Africa, discussions focused on macroeconomic reform and regional integration, smallholder agriculture, water resources, poverty issues, and infrastructure. Participants noted that the supply of water resources varies greatly within countries in Southern Africa. They agreed that given the growing competition between different water users and limited human and financial resources, there is scope for development of user management and market allocation schemes to create incentives for efficient use. They noted that "water security" at the household, community, national, and regional levels is essential for reducing malnutrition and for economic development.

Participants in the symposium, held June 23-24, included Namibia's Minister of Agriculture Nangolo Mbumba and South Africa's Minister of Agriculture and Land Affairs Derek Hanekom. In his closing remarks at the symposium, Hanekom focused on the changing role of agriculture and land issues in his country, noting that South Africa had moved from a policy of self-sufficiency, which "benefited producers considerably at the expense of consumers" to an approach advocating "household food security, greater reliance on market forces, increased access to agricultural support services by smaller farmers and historically disadvantaged groups of producers, and environmentally more sustainable farming practices."

The symposium was cosponsored by IFPRI and South Africa's National Department of Agriculture, the Land and Agriculture Policy Centre, and the Development Bank of Southern Africa.

At the June 22 symposium on A 2020 Vision for Food, Agriculture, and the Environment, Per Pinstrup-Andersen, director general of IFPRI, told the participants that recent reforms in Southern African countries hold promise for ensuring food security during the next 25 years in the region, but that inaction on several key fronts could condemn many Southern Africans to increased hunger, poverty, and environmental destruction.

"Investments must be focused on poor people, agriculture, natural resources, and infrastructure," Pinstrup-Andersen said. "Southern Africa can achieve the 2020 Vision of feeding its people while protecting the environment, but time is running out. This bleak reality can be transformed into a brighter future if Southern Africa and the international community join together in taking action today."

Also speaking at the symposium, Victoria Sekitoleko, subregional representative to Southern and Eastern Africa for the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), said there was a need for a consultative approach, incorporating local experts, nongovernmental organizations, the private sector, governments, and regional organizations. These parties, all focusing on what they do best, should work together to find solutions to food problems in the region.